Second compliance period ends in Chinese ETS pilots

On 23 July 2015, the second compliance period ended in all seven Chinese pilot emissions trading systems (ETSs). Participants generally fulfilled most of their obligations; however, as in the previous year, some pilots extended their deadlines to give participants more time to surrender allowances.

For the Hubei and Chongqing pilots that started in 2014, fewer firms adhered to policy regulations. In Chongqing, 30% of participants failed to surrender their permits by the initial June 23 deadline. The local government then extended the deadline and also organized offline trading to help companies acquire allowances to surrender. Hubei’s compliance rate was slightly higher at 80%. Compared to the previous year, prices in the pilots were lower; this may have been influenced by two factors. Firstly, companies can now use domestic offset credits (CCERs) to meet a certain percentage of their obligation. Secondly, generous free allocation of allowances has depressed prices in the Chinese pilots. A total of 24.7 million permits were traded on the Chinese carbon market in 2014, compared to a total of 4 million traded in 2013.

So far, only Beijing and Guangdong have published preliminary reports on overall emissions reductions achieved in 2014. An estimated 6% reduction was achieved in Beijing and roughly 1.5% in Guangdong.